USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Lafayette, Rhode Island; a few phases of its history from the ice age to the atomic > Part 10
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W. Jr., who engaged in business in Providence. The father built one of the earliest new houses in East Lafayette and moved there in 1878. East of the "Castle," where the Lafayette school-house now stands, the land was allotted to the tenants of the "Castle" for gardens, and these were vigorously cul- tivated. Like provisions for garden land were made for nearly all of the Rodman mill tenements, and these plots were thriftily used. Older folks who were children then will remember the first appearance of potato bugs in 1876.
The "Vale of Pero" comes next in this "Memory Stroll." It is a depression in the highway that made a natural dividing line between the old village and the new one. Tradition has it that an old negro slave, relic of the Colonial days, and named "Pero," lived in a shack here, on the edge of the Ten Rod and on a piece of the less desirable land. It may be that he was the same "Pero" mentioned by Mrs. Griswold in her book "Old Wickford, the Venice of America." She describes him as her father's spare stableman in the summer, and as "short, square, grizzly-haired, and thoroughly African in features." This was sometime in the period 1820-1840. The very old residents of those days have handed down the positive statement that there was such a person and that he lived in that vicinity. Anyway, the name was given to the locality and has stuck.
It was here that the Arnold Brothers, Josiah and James Hubbard, from their ancestral farm on the "plain," just south of the second Rotary above the Junction, and on the border of the dividing line be- tween North Kingstown and Exeter, built and oper-
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ated a livery stable. They had two brothers, Samuel Clark, and Thomas, and a sister Caroline who married James Hendrick. The livery stable was carried on for many years, with teaming, horse-trading, and other allied features. It became a sort of community center for many of the male population. Afterward, the build- ing was used as a blacksmith shop, a carriage-painting and repair shop, a garage, and is now converted into apartments. An upstairs space, over the stable, was used as a clubroom, and as a practice hall for the La- fayette Cornet band. Adjoining the stable on the west, Oliver Steadman built a house with space for an ice cream stand and a barber shop. Later, he moved the house across the Ten Rod where he and his wife Kate (Lawton) lived for many years. He had previously bought a strip of land for the new site. He erected a new building for his barber shop where he carried on for years in that line. Oliver was a horse-lover, owned several racing steeds, and took many prizes at Kingston and other fairs. His widow, with her sister Lottie, still occupies the house. Oliver Wheat, now assisted by his son, has carried on the barber business in the shop since Steadman's death some years ago.
East of the Arnold stable, James Hendrick, coming to the village from Exeter Hill where he had kept a store, built a cottage house and dwelt there many years, with his wife and two children, Lillian and Wallace. James was a musician, playing the violin and several band instruments. Back of the Hendrick house, across a narrow stretch of swamp pond, James Hub- bard Arnold cleared the land on a piece of rising ground, and built a house where he and his wife, Olive
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(Tisdale), lived. One or two other houses were built here in after years.
Next to the east of the James Hendrick house, Greene Hendrick, his brother, ran a shop for the sale of soda water, ice cream, cigars, candy, and the gen- eral run of a refreshment stand. It had an interval of other uses and is now the location of Calvey's Spa. Next to it, Ann Riley, of the Place family, built a large two-story house where she and a sister lived and did dressmaking. The first floor has at times been used as a millinery or other store, and as a doctor's office.
Further along on this north side of the Ten Rod, quite a settlement developed in the '80's. It was at this point that the foot-path, running cross-lots to Wick- ford, via Talbot's Corner, formerly began. George A. Rose built a blacksmith shop and carriage repair shop on land where Robert B. Thomas of Swamptown, for- merly had a horse-shoeing stand. Afterward, John O. Kettell opened a livery stable exchanging the Arnold Brothers property he had acquired, with George Rose, who moved his business over to the Vale of Pero, while Kettell developed the Rose property extensively. John O. was an enterprising young man and became well known in the village and Town for his activity in the livery and teaming line. He was enthusiastic for the improvement of the roads of that day and did much work in that line. He was the first to introduce a moving van here, and the "Earl C.," named after his son, carried many excursion parties and moved many families throughout the vicinity. He improved the Rose property by building a house and other build- ings, besides enlarging the old ones. John died in 1911,
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leaving a widow Lillian (Wilson), and a son Earl C. who carried on the business for a time. Earl was the first to introduce the bus for carrying school children in this vicinity, the automobile having become prev- alent. He also ran a taxi service. He married Agnes Phillips, daughter of David. They had a son Philip who married Thelma Peterson. The latter have a son Peter. Earl died in 1925.
Robert Donnelly built a house next to the Kettell house. It had a public hall on the second floor. Mas- sena T. Gardiner bought it later and lived there some years. He had a small meat shop at the roadside and also ran a "butcher's cart." William Chappell suc- ceeded Massena in the meat business, and as a side-line, raised guinea pigs for the experimental laboratories.
The Jared Miner house comes next to the east. This was built in the early 80's, and housed the Miner family which moved down from the old boarding- house. It was bought some years afterward by George A. Rose and was occupied by his family until recently. George A. had two sons and a daughter. Walter was in the bicycle business in Wickford, but removed to Texas where he now resides. The other son, Lewis, married Dorothy Rice of Newport. They now occupy the house. The daughter, Jennie, married Laudium A. Brunelle and removed to Providence. Ella Rose, the mother, died in 1945, and the father died some time previously. Samuel Lucas now lives in a modern house on a street in back of the Rose house.
Just beyond the Rose house, at the top of the rise in the Ten Rod, was a large lot of land almost cov- ered completely with cedar trees. The neighborhood children made it a playground where "hare and
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hounds" was a favorite game in the dense maze of the cedars. James Cook, of Frenchtown, a mason who worked with the Huling brothers in their plastering jobs, bought a section of this land in 1884, cleared it, and built a house with basement, facing the Ten Rod. He and his wife Susan lived there several years. They had one son, Charles, also a mason, who married Eugenia Northup. James fitted up the basement for a store and operated it for a time. Since then, it has had several occupants, Edwin Ball, who bought the house, and Charles Sweet being among the recent store- keepers. James Cook also built three smaller houses in the rear of the lot. He later removed to Swamp- town.
Back of the Cook property, John Ritson built a two-story house, with ell, in 1885, and moved there from the "Old Castle." After Mr. Ritson's death, Harold Rathbun, mill watchman, bought and occupied the house. Back of the Ritson house, still another house, a cottage, was built and occupied by Lloyd Lucas, son of Samuel, and a well-known contractor and Town official. He sold the house and now lives in a house he built on the Post Road. There are one or two other houses and a Girl Scouts camp be- yond the former Lloyd Lucas house. The street on which access was gained came to be known as King Street, and it extended to the swamp woods at the foot of the small hill at its end. This street is the improved part of a cart-path which ran for a mile or more, through swampy land and woods, to Stony Lane. In the old days this cart-path had considerable foot-travel.
Across from the Cook store, on the south side
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of the Ten Rod, were the first four of the fourteen new one-family houses built for mill employes in the late 70's. The most westerly one was at one time occupied by Jarvis Himes, carpenter, and family. Then John Degnan and family lived there. He had two sons, Frank and Edward, and two daughters. The house was destroyed by fire later. The next house of these four was occupied by a McWhirter family, then by Samuel Lucas and his family, then by the Chase family. The third house was occupied by Daniel Webster and family, then by John Arnold and family (John was a brother of Lyman), then by the Wil- son family, and is now occupied by Samuel Whitford and wife. Samuel has been a long-time teamer for the Company. John Warburton occupied the fourth house. He had a large family which came to be well- known in the community. There were four sons, William, Sydney, Charles (known as Charro), and John Jr. Also five daughters, Emily who married Burrill Arnold, Fanny who married William Boyce, Clara who married George Gavitt, Mary who married a man from Ohio and went to that State to reside, and Rose who married Alvin Phillips. Of the sons, William and Sydney never married, Charles married Marion Hazard, and John Jr. married Alzadie Huling. John Sr. built a house farther down the Ten Rod, and the mill tenement he vacated was occupied by George Law- ton and family. George had a son Benjamin and two or three daughters. William Lafreniere and wife Nora lived here for many years. They had eight chil- dren, four sons and four daughters. Daughter Lenora married Edmund Rockwell, Marie married Henry Howard, son William married Irene Whitford and
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Emery married Helen Ferguson. Sons Bernard and Leonard and daughters Lilla and Lorina are unmar- ried. Nora was the daughter of Mrs. Emory Chase. William moved to a house owned by his father on the north side of the Ten Rod, about opposite the "Rocky Swamp." He has been a Brown and Sharpe employe for several years, and is a member of the Lafayette Cornet Band, being one of the longest-term members of that organization. Clinton Place and his wife Made- line followed the Lafrenieres in the occupation of this house. Clinton was a grandson of George Lawton, a former tenant, and was killed in Italy in World War II. His widow, with her mother and young daughter removed to Gaspee Plateau, in Warwick.
Next to this fourth house is a cottage with ell, built by George W. Gardiner in 1878 and occupied by him and his family for many years. He was killed in a rail- road accident at Walker's Crossing, on the Swamp- town Road, in 1898. His widow, Mary, continued to live here, with the two daughters. Although well ad- vanced in years, she did a great deal of knitting for the soldiers in World War I. The house was materially rebuilt in 1930. It was sold in 1944 and has had a suc- cession of owners. Back of the Gardiner house, Stephen L. Straight built a 11/2 story house in the 80's. He was a former spinner and in later years had an extensive paper route. For many years he was Town Sealer of Weights and Measures. He took pride in his yard and garden and flower beds, and one year received a Governor Beeckman award for his display. He married Catherine Duffy, who died some years ago. They had five sons, Fred, George, Harold, Percy and Aubrey, and two daughters, Flora and Annie.
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Fred now lives in East Greenwich; George died when a young man, Harold (known as "Slick") married a Providence girl and removed to the city where he was a popular garage operator for years, and died in 1948; Percy and Aubrey removed to the city where they married and engaged in business; Percy died January 17, 1949; Flora married a Gaddis and lives at Hills- grove; and Annie married Howard Harris and lives at Wickford. Stephen L. lived with his daughter Flora for some years. He died on August 14, 1948, at an advanced age.
Next along the south side of the Ten Rod, and across Gardiner Avenue, are two houses, similar originally, and on adjoining lots. These were among the earliest built in this section. William and Alpheus Sherman, sons of Pardon Sherman, were the builders and first occupants. They were contractors and oper- ated a lumber yard in Wickford. William and his wife Olive (Himes) had two sons and a daughter. Alpheus and his wife (she was a Green) had a son Irving, a prominent contractor in Wickford, and a daughter Myrtle who married Colin Brown. In later years, both William and Alpheus moved to newer houses they had built farther down the Ten Rod. Caleb Cottrell, boss farmer, and wife bought William's older house, then George A. Rose acquired the property and lived there with his family. Later, Joseph Brown and family occupied the house, then Edward Eccleston, who married Joseph's daughter Beulah, owned and oc- cupied the property for some time. They had five daughters, Dorothy, Gladys, Faith, Ruth, and Bar- bara, all married. Beulah died some time ago. Recently Edward married again and removed to Allenton. He
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sold the property to Arthur E. Gardiner who con- verted a garage on the land into a dwelling facing Gardiner Avenue. The Alpheus Sherman house was sold to (King) David Northup, engineer at the mill, who with his wife Susie (sister of Nathan James) lived here a while. Samuel Whitford, teamer, later acquired the property and, with his wife, occupied it several years. Oscar Hickey, plumber, and his wife now own and occupy the house. He has made many modernizing changes in the house and grounds. Mr. and Mrs. Hickey had a son Oscar who was killed in World War II.
South of the Sherman houses, on Gardiner Avenue, William Phillips, mill machinist, built a modern cot- tage, with ell, and with his wife, occupied it a long time. Benjamin Bray and wife (daughter of Mrs. Emory Chase) afterward acquired the property and occupied it. They had one son. At present the house is owned and occupied by Edwin Chase and his wife. Mr. Chase is the Town Chief of Police. Farther along on Gardiner Avenue is a cottage house built by David McCombs. Later it was owned and occupied by Mrs. Emory Chase and daughter Addie, mother and sister of Edwin. It is now owned and occupied by Arthur Donnelly, watchmaker at Wickford, and his assistant, Jesse Huling.
East of the Sherman houses, a large 2 1/2 story house was built and occupied by Josiah Arnold, who with his mother and family lived there many years. He married Eliza (Gardiner), sister of Mrs. George T. Cranston. The house is now owned by Josiah's daugh- ter Minnie, who married Fred McElhaney, a Town Police Officer, and the McElhaney family occupies it.
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Josiah and Eliza (Gardiner) Arnold had three daugh- ters. Kate married James Matteson, as before men- tioned. Eliza married Albert R. Straight. They have two daughters, Sally and Ann. The McElhaneys have three sons, Fred Jr., Robert and Waldo S., and two daughters, Helen and Marion.
Next east on the Ten Rod, at the corner of the present Railroad Avenue, Almon C. Huling, railroad track foreman on the main line, built a cottage house in the early 80's. He was twice married. His first wife was Harriet F. Gardiner. They had two sons, Herbert and Oliver G., and a daughter Harriet. Later he mar- ried Angenette Greene and they had a son, Almon C. Jr. When the father retired from railroad work, he bought a Rathbun farm in Swamptown (near the old cider mill), and moved there with his family. He sold this Lafayette house to Henry Arnold who later built a smaller house on the rear of the lot. Almon C. Sr. died in 1924, his second wife having previously died in 1922. Harriet, the daughter, married Lyman Morse. After she died, Lyman moved to the village to live with his brother-in-law Almon Jr. He sold the Rath- bun house.
Going back to the north side of the Ten Rod, Charles Spencer, mill machinist, built a cottage house, with ell, at the corner of what is now King Street, where he and his wife and his son Samuel dwelt for years. The property was later bought by William C. Sherman who, with his wife and family, occupied it. They had a son William who married Lula Arnold. There were other children also. After the elder Sher- man's death, the property was bought by James Mc- Combs, painter, who married Hattie Jones, daughter
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of Henry and Sarah (Allen) Jones. They have two children, June who married Lt. Commander Harold Hamilton, U. S. Navy, and Courtland who married Lillian Ronalds. After her mother's death, June moved to her father's house with her daughters. An interest- ing situation for both June and Courtland is that, through their grandmother Jones, they are direct de- scendants of Alexander Huling, the original settler, and both live on the land he purchased in 1709, since Courtland lives just across King Street from his father. The Hamiltons have two daughters, Beverly who recently married a Lieutenant Rounds of Woonsocket and lives there, and Elaine. Courtland and Lillian have a son, Halsey.
In the rear of the present McCombs lot, Caleb Ball of Exeter, bought a lot and built a house thereon in the early 80's. His son George and family occupied this for several years, after moving from the "Old Castle." Adjoining the Ball property to the east, Mary Ann Lawton, at about the same time, built and oc- cupied a 11/2 story cottage, moving there, with her family, from the "flat top" in the center of the village. Her son, Benjamin A., inherited the house and land, married Annie Bates, and lived there a while. Upon removing to Providence, he rented the house to suc- cessive parties. Benjamin died recently and the house has passed to new ownership. Back of the Ball house, Charles Sweet, wheelwright and carpenter, built a house in later years and resided there with his wife Lillian. It is now owned and occupied by Annie O. Knight, Mrs. Sweet's sister. The chapel of St. Gabriel's Mission was erected in the rear of the Sweet property in 1898, by St. Paul's Church of Wickford. It was
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sold in 1944 to the American Indian Federation Inc. which now holds monthly meetings there.
East of the McCombs property, on the north side of the Ten Rod, is a 11/2 story house, with ell, built by William Himes in 1880. He was formerly of the Oak Hill region of Swamptown, and was a clerk in the store of Ambrose C. Taylor. He and his wife lived here for several years. They had a son Alvin, and a daughter Olive, both previously mentioned. After- ward, Herbert Harvey, painter, with his wife, lived here, then William Wheelock and his wife, Sarah (Boardman) bought the property following a short ownership by another party named Wilson, and the Wheelocks, in turn, sold it to William Archibald, professor at Kingston and now real estate and insur- ance agent, who, with his wife, has resided here several years. The Archibalds have two daughters, Barbara, who married Joseph Lane, and Linda Gay.
Next to the east is a small cottage formerly oc- cupied by Elwin Wood, son of Elder E. R. Wood. John Nason and wife, with their sons George and Adelbert, and their daughter Carrie, lived here quite a while. George married Martha McCombs, sister of James, and moved away, Adelbert married and moved to Riverside, R. I., and Carrie married William Brice. Other tenants and owners have occupied it. Burrill Arnold owned the property at one time, and built an- other house on the same lot, to the east. The latter house was owned by Stephen Lawton who lived here many years. At one time he was a painter in the vicinity, but retired from active life years ago. He had various tenants on the second floor, but lived alone on the first floor. He never married. For many
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seasons he had a fine display of flowers the whole length of his roadside front. He was familiar with the families and the history of all this region, and as a genealogical authority, had a wide correspondence. He died December 31, 1948.
This brings us to the Sylvester Franklin farm, with its quaint old house still standing. This house is one of the oldest along the Lafayette stretch of the Ten Rod. The farm had several acres of woodland, pas- ture, and meadow, with a fruitful orchard grove of Porter apple trees. Clark L. Huling, son of Gar- diner C., mason and contractor, acquired the property in the 70's, and with his wife Kate lived there many years. The apple orchard was the scene of various gatherings on summer evenings, such as lawn parties of church and other organizations. At one time, a band of "Kickapoo" (?) Indians held forth a number of evenings, for the sale of liniments and other lotions. One church lawn party ran out of ice cream early in its program. The caterer borrowed somebody's horse and democrat wagon, and procured a supply of cream and ice from his near-by stand. He mixed up a big batch which willing hands and strong arms quickly churned. It was dished out to eager customers. Alas! and Alack! The caterer, in his haste, had forgotten to put in any sugar !!!
The long frontage of this farm on the Ten Rod was an incentive to the sale of house-lots in the fast- growing development of the village. Clark Huling and his wife disposed of a number of parcels early in the 80's. Mary Reilly made one of the first purchases and built a cottage and ell, just to the east of the old Franklin house. With her father and her two sons she
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moved here from the Parker Sweet house near the Junction, and her father continued his business as shoemaker in the ell of the new house. Clarence Weaver lived in the Reilly house later.
John Sunderland, engineer at the mill, followed with a two-story house, with French roof, just be- yond the Reilly home and nearer the Ten Rod. This is now owned and occupied by George Campbell. Farther in from the road, Samuel Weeden, brother of Charles Weeden, engineer on the Wickford Branch, built a house and occupied it with his wife. They had two sons, Fred and Samuel, and two daughters, Annie and Maude. The parents and Fred moved to East Greenwich afterward, while young Samuel and the two daughters removed to Providence. Henry Jones, a carpenter, built a large 2 1/2 story house farther along on the Ten Rod front. He and his wife Sarah (Allen) lived here a long time. Both died in the same year, 1923. They had five daughters: Lillian, Edna who married a Holland, Hattie who married James Mc- Combs, Lottie who married Oscar Sherman, and Pearl who married Linwood Northup. The house was oc- cupied by tenants for a while, but has now been sold to Oliver J. Wheat, the barber. The last lot of the Franklin farm frontage was bought by William Sher- man, son of Pardon, who built a modern cottage on it and moved there from his former home up the Ten Rod. Belle (Northup) Hall later acquired this Sher- man house and lived there with her sister Hattie Northup. Thomas Arnold, brother of Josiah, suc- ceeded her in ownership. He and his wife Marianna (Gavitt) had a son Elmer who was a well-known watchmaker in Providence.
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A Mr. Partelow of South Kingstown afterward bought the remainder of the farm and lived in the old house for a time. He sold it to Ernest Bailey who erected a large garage covering the most of the orchard space. He also built a new house, partly restored the old one, and made many improvements.
Again across the Ten Rod from the Franklin house. A plat street, later to be known as Railroad Avenue, extended from the Ten Rod southerly to the Wick- ford Branch Railroad. Six tenement houses, three along each side, were built on this street, and four more were built on the Ten Rod frontage from Railroad Avenue eastward. Many families of mill employes occupied them in turn. The heads of these families were John Nason, John Graham, a Mr. McCann, John Taylor, Robert Donnelly, James McCombs, David McCombs, Robert Harvey, John Campbell, Peter Murphy and others. The Graham and McCann families were large, and did not remain in the village long. John Taylor and wife had a son John who died when a young man, a daughter Mary Hammond with her two sons, William and Frank, and a daughter who married Frank Tucker and went to live on the Great Plain. Robert Donnelly and wife had three children, Arthur, Janet, and Mattie. James McCombs and wife had several children. Jennie who married young John Maglone of Belleville, Sarah, James (mentioned pre- viously), David who was a blacksmith, and a younger daughter who became a nurse and lived in New Hamp- shire, as well as Martha who married George Nason. David McCombs had several children, among them a son James who lost an arm in a shot-gun accident. Robert Harvey was a sea-captain. His son Herbert
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